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Indians could have done it, says Musharraf
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
WASHINGTON, FEB. 9. When even investigators in Karachi are saying that India's involvement in the abduction of the American journalist, Daniel Pearl, is far-fetched, the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, is arguing that the Indian Intelligence agencies might have indeed had a hand. And he has gone on to suggest that the Islamic radical, Sheik Omar Saeed, could be acting in concert with New Delhi.
Gen. Musharraf's observations in The Washington Post, made before leaving for the United States, could in some ways set the environment for his official visit starting on Tuesday. The General, scheduled to meet the U.S. President, George W. Bush, at the White House on February 13, can be expected to repeat his thinking on Pearl's abduction.
Gen. Musharraf told the paper that ``it is very much a possibility that it has been done by the Indians, orchestrated by the Indians. That's what we are looking into.'' And on why he believed that Saeed - and, perhaps even the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Masood Azhar- could be acting in concert with India, he said, ``it makes sense to me because... the Jaish leader was in jail for seven long years in India and he wasn't even tried... And this man (Saeed) was also there.
``We all know Intelligence is a very bad game and it can come out with any kind of game to justify, organise or orchestrate such kind of activities. These are common activities orchestrated by the Indian Intelligence agencies,'' Gen. Musharraf said.
Pearl's ``over-involvement'' could have also landed him in trouble. ``According to my information, Pearl was also trying to get overly involved with people who are, may be, dangerous. I wonder whether it was because of his over- involvement that he landed himself into this kind of a problem,''
He regretted the damage the abduction had done to Pakistan's image.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, Richard Boucher, announcing the February 12-14 visit of Gen. Musharraf, said Washington would be discussing a range of bilateral issues.
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